Monday, June 5, 2017

Apple has announced updates to its entire MacBook line at WWDC, giving its laptops more powerful specifications in the form of the latest Intel chips.

As had been previously rumored, last year’s MacBook Pros are getting Intel’s Kaby Lake processors, as is Apple’s 12-inch MacBook, which is also getting faster SSDs. Additionally, there’s a new configuration of the 13-inch MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar that starts at a cheaper $1,299, while the 15-inch model now has discrete graphics included standard. Otherwise, the MacBook remains unchanged, with the same screen, design, and ports.

Diving into the hardware specs, the MacBook now maxes out at up to a 1.3GHz Core i7 processor, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has up to a 3.5GHz Core i7, and the 15-inch MacBook Pro goes up to a 3.1GHz Core i7 processor.

Finally, the long-languishing MacBook Air is getting an update, albeit a minor one — Apple is giving the Air a desperately needed speed boost, now offering a faster 1.8GHz Intel processor — the company has yet to offer more details, aside from the speed boost — but that’s about it. The screen is still the same 1440 x 900 panel, the design remains unchanged, and there are no USB-C ports. It seems that the Air is sticking around as an entry-level budget model, even as Apple looks to push users to the MacBook and MacBook Pro.

Overall, the updates across the MacBook line show that Apple is committed to staying competitive in the laptop space, even if the spec boost fails to address larger problems with the products like Apple’s unwavering commitment to USB-C or the gimmicky Touch Bar. Still, given the huge amount of time that has historically gone between even spec boosts for some Apple products, like the iMac or Mac Pro, it’s nice to see that the company seems to be trying harder to keep things updated going forward.